Exhibition Game No. 6: Sacramento 91, Warriors 90

SACRAMENTO – The Warriors wanted to use Wednesday’s penultimate exhibition game as a dress rehearsal for how they’ll play in the regular season.

Instead, they got a lesson in how opponents will play against them.

“Everybody is talking about us. We’re the top dog now, and teams are going to come after our throats,” center Andrew Bogut said after the Warriors lost 91-90 to the Kings. “We have to know that the teams that aren’t supposed to beat us on paper are going to give us their best shots. If we don’t we don’t come and play … it’s going to be a tough game.”

The Warriors were mostly following their script, playing their starters about 30 minutes, shortening their bench to 10 guys and building a 17-point, third-quarter lead that should have allowed them to rest in Thursday’s exhibition finale.

But now they might have some more work to do. The defensive intensity and offensive ball movement waned after a 17-5 run had given the Warriors a 74-57 lead with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter.

With about eight minutes left in the fourth, the Kings had trimmed the deficit to 10. With 4:17 to go, the Kings had tied it 86-86.

“We had a chance to step up their throats in the third quarter, and we should learn a hard lesson,” Bogut said. “If we get that 17-point lead to 25, the game is over. But we took it for granted, and they came back.

“They’re a free-flowing team that shoots a lot of threes and plays a lot of one-on-one basketball. If you let those types of teams back into games, it’s going to cost you.”

Still, the Warriors needed just one defensive stop or one rebound to close out the game. They could get neither.

After Stephen Curry made a 20-footer to put the Warriors ahead 89-88 with 1:17 left, the Kings got two offensive rebounds and finally set up a John Salmons three-pointer that gave Sacramento a 91-89 lead with 7.6 seconds remaining.

David Lee, who played through flu-like symptoms and then after having his two front teeth loosened by a third-quarter elbow, missed the second of two free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining to grant the Kings the one-point victory.

“We need to do a better job of not letting teams back into games when we get those leads,” Lee said. “When the lead goes from 18 to 10 to six, a team like Sacramento thinks it has a shot. Then, it comes down to plays at the end, in a game that should have been over way before then. …

“We didn’t have our best shooting quarter in the fourth, but it shouldn’t have mattered. It should have been out of reach.”

Injury update: Small forward Harrison Barnes missed his fourth straight game with left foot inflammation. Mark Jackson also ruled the second-year player out for Thursday’s game against Portland, but the head coach thinks Barnes will be ready for the regular-season opener Oct. 30.

“That’s not locked in, but that’s our hope. That’s what we expect,” Jackson said. “The main thing is that we don’t want it to be a nagging injury. We want to make sure he takes the proper time and gets it healthy to the point where it’s no longer a concern.”

Barnes practiced his post moves and coming off screens to take jumpers after Wednesday’s shootaround — another stride in his recovery. Jackson said Barnes is still a candidate to start during the regular season, but Klay Thompson has started the past two games and has led the team in minutes and scoring during the preseason.

“I’m still playing that all out, and I haven’t made a decision,” Jackson said. “It’s what puts our team in the best position to win. That’s it. You can be the best player, but at the end of the day, my decision will be whatever makes us the best team. It’s as simple as that.

“We’ve seen the Sixth Man of the Year Award go to guys who were clearly among the top five players on their teams, but it made their teams better to bring them off of the bench.”